Anakpawis Regional Coordinator for the Southern Tagalog Region Orly Marcella escaped an attempt on his life earlier this afternoon around 3pm when a motorcycle-riding, armalite-bearing man wearing a ski mask over his face and head drove up next to the jeepney Marcellana was riding and leveled the gun at him.

Marcella had just left Anakpawis Party-Lists' national headquarters in Kamuning, Quezon City riding a jeepney bound for Manila. As the jeep sped through E. Rodriguez Avenue towards Welcome Rotonda, Marcella noticed the motorcycle and the hooded man.

As soon as the jeep made a stop at Welcome Rotonda, the would-be assassin lifted his weapon, but Marcella was quicker and jumped out of the jeep and ran to a populated street and into an house.

The residents thought that Marcellana was a thief and fell upon him. Marcellana had already received a few blows on his face and torso before he was able to make the residents understand that he was actually escaping from a would-be assassin. He told them that he was an official of Anakpawis Party-List, and that was when they stopped hurting him. He sustained various cuts and bruises in the face, legs and arms. The baranggay tanod in Rotonda has since taken custody of him, while officials of Anakpawis have already arrived at the scene.

Marcellana is the widower of slain human rights activist Eden Marcellana who was killed in April 2003 in Mindoro upon the orders of Brigadier Gen. Jovito Palparan.

"We condemn this latest attack against our leaders and officials. Orly Marcellana would've been killed in cold blood had it not been for his sheer luck. We have no other suspects but the elements of the Armed Forces of the Philippines," said Anakpawis Rep. Crispin Beltran.

"AFP chief of staff Hermogenes Esperon is a liar and a hypocrite when he says that the AFP respects for human rights and that they have nothing to do with the extrajudicial killings of activists, many of whom are members and leaders of the progressive party-lists," he said.

Beltran also denounced the AFP for its illegal arrest and detention of AP Leyte Regional Coordinator Vicente 'Bebot' Borja and the enforced disappearance of AP Panay coordinator Nilo Arado.#